aspect spacious, and it contains many large and elegant buildings. At this place resides the intrepid Colonel Croghan.[119] Opposite to Louisville the river Ohio is more than a mile in width. Much ship building is carried on here; and at this place boats and vessels, going down the river, stop for a pilot. Ships of four hundred tons have {175} passed down the rapids. The river is, generally, in its highest state between February and April.
Opposite to this place, on the other side of the Ohio, is the town of Jeffersonville; and two miles below, on the Kentucky side, is a small place called Shippingport.[120] At this place boats, bound down the river, generally land for the purpose of leaving the pilot, and of obtaining information as to the markets below. Near the rapids is situated Fort Steuben.[121]
The road from Louisville to Shippingport lies on the bank of the river, and on the river side of it are groves of large sycamore trees. Below the latter place, for fifty miles, the river is truly beautiful. In the vicinity of Louisville are some noble plantations. Some of the planters
